= Excellent
= Good/Very Good
= Okay read
= Not recommended
= Ugh! Don't waste your time.
Archive for September 14th, 2008
Sunday, September 14th, 2008Sunday Salon - September 14, 2008
September 14, 2008
8:00AM
There is a decided nip in the air this morning - a sure sign that Fall is fast approaching. Ann from Table Talk (all the way across the pond in England) wrote about her love of cold days and reading in front of the fire. I love that too - and I have to admit, I’m looking forward to sparking up the woodstove soon.
Since my last Sunday Salon posting, I finished reading The Heretic’s Daughter (read my review) - an historical novel set in Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials. The book was wonderfully written…very atmospheric and historically accurate. I’m giving away a hard cover edition of The Heretic’s Daughter on September 17th. If you decide to enter, make sure you follow the directions to leave me a fact you’ve discovered on the author’s website.
I’m currently absorbed in Dave Boling’s debut novel Guernica - set in the Basque region of Spain before and during WWII. Boling has created an historical novel which is also a family saga and love story. I was drawn into the novel within a few pages and have grown to care about the characters. I’ve talked about this before on my blog, but I’ll mention it again - journalists seem to make the most engaging novelists. Boling is a journalist out of the Seattle area. Every time I choose a novel written by a journalist, I am not disappointed. Have you found this to be true? I’ll be finishing this novel today, so watch for my review. And I’m giving away an Advance Reader’s Edition (ARE) of Guernica on September 19th - all you have to do is leave me a comment with a link to your favorite blog.
I’m also reading a non fiction book which came to me from Amy at Jane Wesman Public Relations a couple of months ago. It has been on my shelf far too long and I picked it up yesterday and blew through 70 pages in no time. Ships Without a Shore: America’s Undernurtured Children, by Anne Pierce is a riveting expose on childrearing in the United States. Pierce sites numerous studies and inserts her conclusions about the role of Day Care and media in how America’s children are growing up. I’m not sure I agree with all her conclusions, but it is hard to argue with her research on the subject. Some of you may wonder why I was interested to read a book on childrearing since I have no children of my own. I believe children represent our future and to ignore the social issues surrounding children is to ignore our future. Although I have not birthed a child, I work with children in my PT practice, and I am an aunt to my sisters’ kids, and a psuedo-aunt to the children of my friends. So there you go… Anyway, I hope to finish this book by this evening.
I have so many books waiting to be read - and choosing the “next” book is always a little difficult. But today I read Jill’s fine post about Joyce Carol Oates and decided my next read must be A Garden of Earthly Delights by this author (this book is the first in the Wonderland Quartet and was a finalist for the National Book Award). It will be my first novel by Oates - have any of you read it?
I would be seriously remiss in not mentioning that this week is Book Blogger Appreciation Week and there are tons of giveaways and events going on over at My Friend Amy’s blog. I’ve posted the massive list of prizes here, and the schedule for announcement of awards here, and highlights of the bloggers nominated in three different categories here. If you haven’t done so yet, you ought to check out the festivities and visit the blogs participating. There are also bloggers giving away a plethora of books in honor of the event and Amy has provided a Mr. Linky here.
Finally, look for a guest post by Kathleen McCleary (author of House and Home) on September 17th here on Caribousmom. I’ll also be posting a review of her book on that day - all part of a TLC Book Tour for Kathleen! To see the schedule for this book tour check out this post.
That’s all the bookish news from me today. Hope this Sunday finds you surrounded by wonderful books. For those Saloners living in Texas, my thoughts are with you!